In diagnosis using a medical image inspection device typified by an X-ray CT (X-ray Computed Tomography) device or an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) device, a visualization process is executed on a captured 3-dimensional medical image (hereinafter also referred to as “medical image volume data”) using a plurality of medical image processing algorithms and an obtained result is used as diagnosis assistance in some cases. In regard to the medical image processing algorithms used here, there are a plurality of classifications of processing methods according to, for example, cases in which only data of a necessary tissue part is extracted from input medical image volume data for display and in which an edge of an image is emphasized and displayed.
Here, when a medical image processing algorithm is automatically applied and an image is displayed, it is very difficult to automatically apply all of the processes in consideration of safety or accuracy, and finally it is necessary for a doctor or an engineer to execute confirmation or correction in most cases. However, with recent advance in technologies of medical image capturing devices, the number of tomographic images (hereinafter also referred to as “slice images”) which can be acquired once has been increased at an accelerated pace, and thus an amount of medical image volume data output as a photography result is considerable. Thus, when the amount of medical image volume data is considerable, the above-mentioned work of executing the confirmation and correction by humans is particularly very expensive in terms of a load imposed on a doctor or an engineer or human cost. In order to reduce such a load, accuracy and validity of a portion subjected to automatic processing are required to be improved as much as possible, and simultaneously to improve simplicity or efficiency of a portion subjected to manual processing is also an important task nowadays.
PTL 1 discloses a method of correcting a contour line of a 3-dimensional region into a free curve, and specifically, a method of reflecting a movement distance and a movement time of a pointing device to correction of a curve.
PTL 2 suggests a method of setting a guide region separately apart from a region desired to be extracted and performing correction on the extracted region so as to enter the range of the guide region.